Indian Twilight
by D.D. Heal
Summary: When a Indian woman is murdered outside the British Embassy. Batman soon learns there's a connection between the victim and the disappearance of Scarecrow eight months ago.
1. Chapter 1

Part One: An Uneasy Sunset

Its afternoon over at the Archie Goodwin International Airport as Michael Simms, a former New Scotland Yard detective who's been transferred and his family arrive at the terminal to be greeted by Harvey Bullock, who's holding a sign with Michael's name on it.

"Sorry Jim couldn't be here, but I'm here in his place. I'm Harvey Bullock," he said.

They then shook hands. "Yeah well, it's a pleasure to meet you. Eh Helen, why don't take the kids to our new home," Michael said.

"But daddy, you said you were going to help us unpack," his seven year old daughter said.

"I know pumpkin, but duty calls because daddy says so. Don't worry, I'll see you two later," he said. They both then went in their separate directions. Meanwhile, in a warehouse in the industrial district, I entered the warehouse to find a huge jack-in-a-box standing in the middle of the room.

"Oracle, I found the bomb. The bomb squad wasn't kidding when they said that Joker's handy work is involved," I said.

"So what's the plan?" Oracle asked.

"Dispose of the bomb and find out what the Joker is really after," I said. It took some time to find the timer and I get to work of disposing the bomb. I discovered that the bomb was a ruse, but all for what.

"Batman, what's happened?" Oracle asked.

"The bomb was a ruse, meant to lure me out. While the Joker commits the real crime," I said.

The bomb disposal then enters the building. "Did it go off?" a member of the squad asked.

"No, it was a ruse, to distract us from the real crime," I said. I opened the box to search for any contents. I then found a fake fossilised tyrannosaurus rex with the Joker's graffiti over it. Over at the Gotham National History Museum, Joker, his henchmen and Harley Quinn burst into the museum, causing a panic.

"Okay, settle down," Joker said.

"QUIET!" Everyone in the room then stops panicking. "They're all yours, puddin'," Harley Quinn said.

"Thanks, Harley, now then, time to pick this place clean," he said.

Outside, the police arrived and have surrounded the building, Harvey and Michael arrived on time.

"Harvey, I was wondering where you were," Commissioner Gordon said.

"Ah, went to the station to find you weren't there. Suddenly, dispatch said the Joker and his gang broke into the Gotham National History Museum. This is Michael Simms, by the way," Harvey said.

"I wish this could be under different circumstances. But right now, the Joker, Harley Quinn and the rest of the gang have broken into the museum. No doubt got everyone in there held hostage and probably stealing every known artefact in there. Is there any word from the bomb disposal squad?" Commissioner Gordon asked.

"Yes sir, they said the bomb was a diversion. Designed to lure Batman from the museum," a police officer said.

"He better turn up, or things could get out of hand," he said. Back inside, two of henchmen were exploring one of the exhibitions.

"Its nothing but rocks," one of the henchmen said.

"Joker said this stuff is worth millions on the black market," the other said. I stay up high and wait for one of them walk pass around the corner. I then used an inverted takedown on one of them, causing him to hang from a gargoyle.

"I know when you said that these exhibits are worth millions. How much are we talking about?" He turns around to find his friend has vanished. "Okay, where did you go?" He then finds him tied and hanging from the gargoyle. "Oh my god, I know you're here. Show yourself." He gets his cell phone out and rings the Joker up. "Boss, we got a problem here. He's here, the Batman," he said.

"Why doesn't he just take a day off? Find him, and make sure you bring him here. I don't want him to miss the grand finale," Joker said. The surviving henchman begins to the search the exhibition for me.

"I know you're in here. I'm not afraid of you," he said.

"You're sure about that," I said. He turns around slowly to find hanging from a gargoyle and he panics. In the main hall, the rest of the henchmen placed grenades into the hostage's hands and tapped them.

They heard the scream and panicked. "It's Marty again. Probably got scared while walking through the Egyptian exhibit," one of them chuckled.

"You think? Hmm, sounds like the Bat is heading this way. Let's give him a warm welcome," Joker said. The rest of the henchmen head to the exhibit, when they arrived, I kicked the door down and surprised.

They surprised by my arrival. "It's the Batman!" another shouted. They picked a fight with me, and defeat nearly all of them. One of them crawls back, grabs a gun and aims it at me.

"Yeah right, like that's going to work," I said. He tries to pull the trigger, but I punched him out cold. I then enter the main hall to find the hostages holding grenades tapped to their hands.

"How did you figure it out, Bats?" Joker asked.

"The bomb was diversion to lure me away from here. The fake fossilised tyrannosaurus rex skull indicated you were going to strike at the National History Museum," I said.

"Very clever, Bats. But not clever enough, I still got my trump card to play. If you even make a move." The Joker then shows me the remote detonator. "I'll detonate every single grenade the hostages are holding. You understand?" Joker said.

"This is the police, we got this building surrounded!" Commissioner Gordon yelled.

"Hmm, Commissioner Gordon, not bad timing as usual," Joker said. I then took advantage and was to surprise Joker by taking him down silently. Harley Quinn tries to punch me, but I counteract and handcuffed her to the railing. The police enter the building moments after I defeated the Joker and Harley Quinn.

"You okay?" Commissioner Gordon asked.

"I'm fine, there hostages that need attending. Be careful, Joker's men placed grenades in their hands and tapped them," I said.

"It's no surprise why Joker wanted to strike here. All these artefacts are worth millions," he said.

"So this is Joker," Michael said.

"This is Michael Simms, he's the news transfer from New Scotland Yard," Commissioner Gordon said.

"Jim did mention that a new transfer would arrive this week," I said.

"It wasn't convincing the family to move to Gotham. But they understand why in the end," Michael said.

"I read your profile before you arrived in this country. Jim is a good judge of character and I know you got potential," I said.

"Thanks," he said.

Joker then regains conscience. "So it's over then. I thought this junk would make me rich, but I was wrong. Even Scarecrow would love this museum, because of the mummy exhibit," he said.

I then walked over to him. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen Crane in eight months. Have you seen him lately?" I asked.

"I wish I knew, but I don't," he said. The officers then took him his henchmen and Harley Quinn away.

"This is worrying; no one has seen Dr. Jonathan Crane since he got paroled from Arkham Asylum eight months ago," Commissioner Gordon said.

"This is worrying because?" Michael asked.

"Dr. Jonathan Crane aka the Scarecrow was a former psychiatrist who got kicked out of the university for unorthodox teaching methods. Since then, he turned to a life of crime, using a variety of fear toxins to make people's fears come to reality," I said.

"That bad," he said.

"In any case, I alerted the FBI and Interpol to inform us of his whereabouts," Commissioner Gordon said.

"I'm heading to Arkham to get some answers," I said. I then left the museum, got into the Batmobile and drove up to Arkham Asylum. Outside on the asylum grounds, I parked the Batmobile, got out and walked up to the front door. An orderly opens the door to find me standing on the doorstep.

"Picking up or dropping off?" he asked.

"Neither, I'm here to see the psychiatrist who 'rehabilitated' Dr. Jonathan Crane," I said.

"Hold on, I'll get Dr. Holden for you," he said. Inside the asylum, I enter the asylum and was greeted by Dr. Holden.

"This is a surprise, I thought you were here to drop the Joker off," she said.

"The police should be here with them in a moment. I need to talk to you about Dr. Jonathan Crane," I said.

"We should discuss this in my office." Inside her office, the first thing I noticed was the clutter lying around. "You have to forgive the mess, sometimes the patients can get quite out of control," she said.

"You the one who 'rehabilitated' Dr. Jonathan Crane?" I asked.

"I am, he was a tricky patient to deal with. Given the fact that he himself is also a psychiatrist," she said.

"Have you heard from him lately?" I asked.

"No, I haven't. Not since he got paroled eight months ago. I got the DVD footage of his parole hearing," she said. She then gets the DVD out of her filing cabinet and gives it to me.

"I'll have a look at it and see if I can learn anything," I said.

"You better, who knows what Jonathan might do next," she said. In the Batcave, I sat at the Batcomputer and analysed the DVD footage of Crane's parole hearing. Alfred enters the cave and walks up to me.

"Watching movies again, sir?" he asked.

"Dr. Crane's parole hearing, Alfred. He hasn't been seen in eight months since he got out," I said.

"It looks like he got a confident look in his face," Alfred said.

"It'll have to wait, I got an opening ceremony to attend at the Gotham India Society's new headquarters," I said.

"I'm glad you finally remembered," he said. Later, at the Gotham India Society's new headquarters, I arrived at the building as Bruce Wayne and I cut the red ribbon to officially open the new building. Inside, I was greeted by Prof. Silas Burton, current chairman of the society.

"Bruce, it's been too long," he said.

"So I see you're the new chairman," I said.

"Well, my former position in Gotham University as Professor of Indian Studies was the reason why they elected me as chairman," he said.

"I'm happy for you," I said.

"If it hasn't been for your mother's contributions. The society might never survive," he said.

"She was a patron of the society and had a fascination with Indian culture," I said. Prof. Silas Burton then shows me around the new building and then takes into the garden.

"It wasn't easy designing the new garden," Prof. Silas Burton said.

"So I heard, so what's the name of the garden?" I asked.

"We recently decided to name it the Martha Wayne Memorial Garden in your mother's memory," he said.

"I like it, I guess she would be proud of it," I said. Commissioner Gordon and his paraplegic daughter Barbara then arrived in the garden.

"I think she would," he said.

"Commissioner Gordon, so you have decided to accept the invitation," Prof. Silas Burton said.

"My daughter kept bragging me to get out of office and attend the ceremony," he said.

"Well, my grandchildren can be like sometimes," Prof. Silas Burton said.

"One would think and it gives him something to learn," Barbara said. We then laughed at the remark, we then went back into the main building.

"It was a pleasure meeting you two again," I said.

"Likewise, Mr. Wayne. Likewise," Commissioner Gordon said. Harvey Bullock enters the building and walks up to the Commissioner, whispers into his ear and is then worried by what he just heard.

"Is something wrong, dad?" Barbara asked.

"I'm going to have to make this short. There's been an incident down twenty yards near the British Embassy," he said.

"I understand, dad," she said. Commissioner Gordon and Harvey then left the building. I was then concerned by this. At the scene of the crime, Commissioner Gordon and Harvey arrived at the scene and looked down at the body.

"Any idea who the victim is?" Commissioner Gordon asked.

"She doesn't carry any form of id on her. From what we gather, she's of Indian origin and in her mid to late twenties," Harvey answered.

"Also, she was stabbed multiple times," a CSI analyst said.

"Have you recovered the murder weapon?" Commissioner Gordon asked.

"We couldn't find the weapon," Harvey answered.

I then arrived at the scene as Batman. "It looks like the murderer fled the scene with the weapon," I said.

"You finally show up, what do you make of it?" Commissioner Gordon said.

"Like your CSI analyst said, she was stabbed multiple times, both in the front and back. Also, it would seem she tried to crawl to the Embassy," I said.

"What makes you so sure?" Harvey asked.

I pointed to the blood trail. "Stay here with body, we'll follow the trail," Commissioner Gordon ordered. I, Harvey and the Commissioner followed the trail to an alleyway to where the stabbing took place.

"We may just found where the stabbing took place," Commissioner Gordon said.

"Hold on, I'm picking up traces of semen," I said.

"She was raped?" Commissioner Gordon asked.

"It's hard to tell which came first," I said.

"We'll get the body to the morgue and inform you of any other developments," he said. I then used the grapple gun to scale to a rooftop. I then notice the sunset as I attempt to contact Oracle, but I realised she back at the Gotham India Society. I make my way back to the Batmobile and drove back to the Batcave. In the cave, I analyse the security camera footage from the British Embassy and noticed the woman crawling to the building and then dies. Alfred then arrives and walks up to me.

"Oh my, she doesn't look so well?" Alfred asked.

"She was recently murdered and raped. The footage was taken at 5:49 pm, moments before the sunset," I said.

"Whatever it is, it'll cause a panic within the Indian community," he said.

"It'll be the least of my worries," I said.

The Oracle then contacts me. "You were to get hold of me, what happened?" she asked.

"An Indian woman was murdered and raped near the British Embassy," I answered.

"It'll create panic within the Indian community," she said.

"I know, I'm e-mailing you the footage to see if you can notice anything out of the ordinary," I said.

"Will do," she said. The Oracle then hangs up as I sent her the e-mail containing the footage. I then get back to analysing the footage of Dr. Crane's parole hearing.

"So Dr. Crane, what makes you eligible for parole?" one of the board members asked.

"When I came back again here, my first thought was how can keep going through this. I mean, I'm getting tired of being defeated by the Dark Knight. So I then thought, why am I wasting my time with him where I should be moving on with my life," he said.

"Is that the only reason?" another parole board member asked.

"Not only that, but also I looked at the possibility of reconnecting with my roots as a psychiatrist," he said. The board members then confer among themselves for two minutes and they made their decision.

""This board has made a decision. Parole granted," the other board member said. The footage finishes playing. I then played an audio file of the Scarecrow threatening to expose the people in the Dini International Stadium with his fear toxin eighteen months ago.

"I will release my toxin into the stadium unless the city pays fifteen million dollars by midnight tonight," he threatened. I stopped the audio file and compared the vocal to the one in the footage and the audio file. I deduced that he was lying in his parole hearing, the question is why.

"It would that Crane was lying in his parole hearing," Alfred said.

"Indeed, the question is why? I'm going back to Arkham," I said. I left the Batcomputer, got into Batmobile and drove back to Arkham Asylum. In the asylum, I was again greeted by Dr. Holden and we both walked along the hallway.

"I take it you weren't able to find Dr. Crane?" she asked.

"No, but I did find something else. He lied in his parole hearing," I answered.

"If he lied in that hearing, the board would've turned down his parole," she said.

"Exactly, someone with a through a lot of trouble to tamper with the parole board. The question now is who and why," I said.

"There's something I forgot to mention during your last visit here. Dr. Crane did get a lot of phone calls from an anonymous source. However, when we tried to trace where the calls were coming from, we were locked out and the source was encrypted," she said.

"Whoever this is person is, they did a good job of covering their tracks," I said.

"I'm more concern about what he might do next," she said. I then get phone call from Commissioner Gordon.

"Batman, we got some new developments regarding the homicide. Meet me at the morgue," he said.

"I'll be there." He then hangs up. "I'm going to put our conversation on hold. I'm needed at the morgue," I said.

"I understand," she said. I then left the asylum, got back into the Batmobile and drove up to the morgue. In the morgue, Commissioner Gordon along with Harvey arrived at the morgue before I did. I arrived on time like always.

"So you finally made, what took you so long?" Commissioner Gordon asked.

"I made a stop at Arkham regarding Dr. Crane," I answered.

"Anything?" he asked.

"I'll explain later once we deal with the reason why we're in the morgue," I said.

"Just for your information, gentlemen. The coroner couldn't be here tonight because his wife fell down the stairs, so he's at the hospital with her. I'm taking his place, tonight," a mysterious voice said. He comes out of the corner and reveals himself to be the intern.

"You got to be kidding me, the coroner's intern is the one who called us?" Harvey asked.

"Well now, Columbo, ain't you the smart one," the intern said.

"And he's a wisecrack at the same time," Harvey said.

"We want to know why you called us?" Commissioner Gordon asked.

"Right, when you lot brought the body in here a couple of hours ago. The first thing I observed was the multiple stabs, thirteen of them to be precise. Six at the front and seven at the back, the ones at the front were made first and then back. The biggest discovery of this so far is when I tried to analyse her blood sample. In your typical autopsy, you expect to find the blood either normal or some drug flowing in there," he said.

"I take it you found something in her blood?" I asked.

"I did, but what that something is, now that is sixty four thousand dollar question. I sent a blood sample over for a toxicology test to see if they can identify what this mystery substance is," the intern said.

"Have you indentified the woman yet?" Commissioner Gordon asked.

"Now that's even a bigger mystery. I took her fingerprints and ran it through AFIS, but it didn't with a match. I put in a call to the police forces outside Gotham to see if any of them has a missing person's report on her," he said.

"Can I take a blood sample and a copy of the case file?" I asked.

"Is he allowed to do this?" the intern asked.

"Every police officer should know that they can trust Batman," Commissioner Gordon said.

"Very well," the intern said. He then gives a blood sample and a copy of the case file.

"I'll let you know if I find anything," I said.

"You better do it fast. I don't know how long it takes the media to figure out there's a dead Indian woman on our hands," They then notices that I vanished into thin air. "Something's never change," he said. I got back outside, get into the Batmobile and drove back to the Batcave. In the cave, I analysed the blood sample under a microscope and notice there's something in there. Alfred then enters the cave and walks up to me.

"Playing with your chemistry kit, sir?" Alfred asked.

"It's a blood sample from the victim and there's unknown substance in there. I better run through the Batcomputer to see if can indentify it." I ran the sample through the Batcomputer and it came up with a chemical makeup I'm too familiar with. "This is the chemical makeup for Scarecrow's fear toxin," I said.

"How did something like that get into her blood stream?" Alfred asked.

"Good question, Alfred, I better let the Commissioner know of this," I said. I then phone Commissioner Gordon up and he answers it.

"Gordon here," he said.

"Its Batman, I just finished analysing the blood sample and you're not going to like what I discovered," I said.

"Try me," he said.

"The unknown substance is actually Dr. Crane's fear toxin," I said.

"It would've been easy for the intern to detect. Why didn't it identify it in the first place?" he asked.

"This version has been modified to make it undetectable and designed to be a designer drug," I said.

"This can't be good, remember what you said about your recent visit to Arkham. What to know what is it you discovered?" he asked.

"Oh that, it turns out that Jonathan lied throughout his parole hearing," I said.

"But that's impossible, the parole board would've turned down his request if he lied," he said.

"Exactly, but someone tampered with the board and it wasn't Crane," I said.

"Someone is pulling the strings, do you think the victim and Crane are connected?" he asked.

"Right now, anything is possible, I'll keep in touch and goodnight," I said. I then hang up on him, got changed out of costume and into nightwear. I and Alfred then left the Batcave and back into Wayne Manor. Next day over at Wayne Enterprises, I'm in a meeting with the board directors to discuss our current business.

"Thanks to Bruce's appearance yesterday at the Gotham India Society. We were able to contribute to the war effort in Afghanistan by providing aid to the citizens," Lucius Fox said.

"That's good news, what the opening ceremony of the new European headquarters in Canary Wharf, London? Is that still going ahead as scheduled?" I asked.

"It is, but there have doubts about it because of our recent court appearance in the European Parliament," he said.

"Fair enough, that'll be all today. I'll be in my office if you lot need me," I said. I left the board room and enter my office. I sat down on the chair and turned on the TV to watch the news. The first I saw was the murder it occurred last night.

"A woman was murdered twenty yards the British Embassy last night in what they call a frenzy attack. So far, Commissioner Gordon has refused to comment whether the murder was racially motivated and now for stock exchange with our business correspondent," the news anchorwoman said. I then turned the TV off and heard the intercom going off.

"Sir, Dick Grayson is here to see you," my secretary said.

"Send him in," I ordered.

Dick enters the office and sits down on a chair. "I heard there's been a murder here recently," he said.

"Yes, it looks like Dr. Jonathan Crane might be involved," I said.

"You should've seen Blüdhaven, protests have broken out near the police station. I just came here to warn this might happen to Gotham," he said.

"I guess that's the reason why Jim declined to comment to the media," I said.

"I just came here to warn you that this might happen in Gotham. Have a nice day," he said. He then leaves the office and the building. Several hours later, I stood on the rooftop as Batman and talking to Oracle.

"Dick wasn't kidding about the protests in Blüdhaven. I finished analysing the security footage from the British Embassy like you asked," she said.

"Did you find anything?" I asked.

"Unfortunately no," she answered.

"In that case, I was wondering if you can look into something," I said.

"Sure name it?" she asked.

"Can you do a background check on the current Arkham parole board members?" I asked.

"It's not going to be easy, but I'll try. You think Scarecrow might be in involved in her murder?" she asked.

"Maybe, but I'm not sure. I know someone who may be able to identify her," I said.

"All right, keep in touch," she said. She then hangs up on me and head down to the ground. Outside the Old Patriot tavern, a regular walks outside, gets his cigarette out, lights it up and begins to smoke it.

"You do have a funny way of showing up, Bats," he said.

"I guess the MI6 training paid off back in the day, Grant," I said.

"We were trained to detect anything out of the obvious, mate. That and its bad habit of mine," he said.

"I see you been making a living for yourself lately," I said.

"Even though I'm semi-retired, but have other ways to making money. So what is it you want?" Grant asked.

"I was hoping if you can help me with something," I said.

"You know I'm out of that line of work. The last time I supplied a super criminal with that type of information, it cost Barbara Gordon the use of her legs. Once Jim Old Boy figured out who supplied the Joker with the information. He threatened to deport me back to the UK if I tried something like that again. Even though I'm in exile in this country because of the botched operation I conducted years ago," he said.

"That's not important, I was wondering if you can help identify this woman," I said. I handed a photograph of the victim.

"Hmm, I'll see what I can do and Bats. Does Jim know that you saw me tonight?" he asked.

"What he doesn't know, won't hurt you," I said.

"Fair enough," he said.

The Oracle then contacts me as I left the tavern. "I've done the background check on the current Arkham parole board members. And you're not going to like what I discovered," I said.

"Go on?" I asked.

"One of the members, Matthew Bell, current CEO of Taka Pharmaceuticals has recently received an amount of money around ten million dollars from anonymous source," she said.

"So he was bribed. Did any of the other board members know about this?" I asked.

"I checked and there wasn't any indication that they knew. So they went along and one more thing, Matthew is also the current chairman of the Arkham parole board. Also, his company also supplies the medication to the facility," she said.

"Thanks for the information," I said. I walked up to the Batmobile, got into it and drove up to Matthew Bell's penthouse suite. In the suite, Matthew pours himself a glass of whisky and heads into the lounge. I enter the penthouse through the balcony and it scared him.

"You, don't you ever knock?" he asked.

"No and you got some explaining to do," I said.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said.

"You been recently taking bribes from a mysterious benefactor," I said.

"It's illegal," he said.

"I know you're smarter than this. The benefactor bribed you to release Dr. Crane from Arkham eight months ago," I said.

"I admit, I was bribed, Taka Pharmaceuticals has been having financial trouble recently. When our Japan branch went bankrupt after the outbreak in which at least ten thousand children fell sick because of a product error. Since then, our profits are falling and we're losing points on the stock market. One day, a benefactor offered me a ten million dollar bribe if I can release Dr. Crane from Arkham," he said.

"And you did, how many more Arkham patients have released because of a cash bribe?" I asked.

"Now you mention it, there's another. Two months later after Dr. Crane was paroled, the same benefactor offered me another bribe. Same amount, but this time, I was bribed to release Pamela Isley, aka Poison Ivy," he said.

"And they let you?" I asked.

"I owe Taka a lot, I am willing to do anything to keep the company alive. Even it means committing a couple of acts of evil. What would you do if you discover if your company is failing?" I asked.

"That's a question I will not answer." I then looked out the window to find the Bat-Signal lit up in the night sky. "It looks like I'm needed somewhere else," I said. I then jumped off the balcony and glide down into the Batmobile and drove to the police station.


	2. Chapter 2

Part Two: London Calling

On top of the police station where the Bat-Signal is based, I arrived to find Commissioner Gordon already there, along with Michael Simms.

"What is it, Commissioner?" I asked.

"We received a tip off that there's a shipment containing illegal immigrants coming is in at the docks tonight," he said.

"What does this have to with the case?" I asked.

"This morning, we received a phone call from Interpol, saying they got a sighting of Dr. Crane somewhere in Europe they believe. They didn't tell us where he was because the information they received was questionable," Michael said.

"No doubt and you think these immigrants are being smuggled with Dr. Crane's modified fear toxin?" I asked.

"Possibly, we're heading down to the docks right now," Commissioner Gordon said. We both left the rooftop and we all drove down to the docks. At the docks, a freighter arrives late because of a storm over the Atlantic Ocean. Two men, armed with sub-machine guns walked up to the freighter as the first container is loaded onto the ground. The men opened the container and found it contained the illegal immigrants.

"Just like they said, Boss, the first shipment of the evening has arrived," one of the men said.

The gang leader walks up to them. "Excellent." He then inspect as I arrived and climb onto a container. "Take these five to the warehouse. As for the others, take them to the East End," the gang leader said. One of them walks by; I grabbed him and took him down as he scream.

"What was that?" the other asked.

The gang leader gets his cell phone out and calls another gang member. "It's me, listen, send two of your men down here, now. You, rendezvous with the other two and search the docks, we're not alone," the gang leader ordered. The other member joins up with the two other gang members and begin to search the docks. The gang leader is alone; I took advantage of this situation and sneak up on him to take him down. The three gang members heard his yell and panicked.

"You two heard that didn't you?" The other two nodded yes. "Come on out, we're not scared of you." His cell phone rang and he answers it. "Hello?" one of them asked.

"We got a situation, there're cops all around the building. We need back up now," his associate said.

"We're on our way," he said. He puts his cell phone away as they notice my shadow. I turned around, look at me and panicked. I took them out, while I head into the raided warehouse, inside, the police were making arrests, while I walked up to Commissioner Gordon.

"I take it they didn't put up a fight?" I asked.

"They were about to, until we caught them off guard. Now it's a question of identifying the immigrants and hopefully returning them back to their country," he said.

"Sir, we need couple of translators. I can't understand what they're saying," an officer said.

I immediately recognised the language she's speaking. "It's Hindi, one of two official languages in India." I begin to speak Hindi and she begins to explain her ordeal. "It turns out she's originally from Delhi. Her family weren't making any money, so she decided to get herself into America through illegal means," I said.

"I assume it's the same story with the others?" Commissioner Gordon asked. She then explains more about the other immigrants.

"Apparently, some of them were actually from England who taken to India to participate in an arranged marriage by their families. They refused and as a result, smuggled to this country and force them and rest of these women into a life of prostitution in the East End," I said.

"That is despicable," Michael said. I walked up to a table and read the warehouse blueprint and noticed one warehouse was designated as 'X'. I head back outside to get the tied up gang leader and brought him in here.

"We like some answers. What's inside Warehouse X?" I asked.

"How should I know? They don't tell me nothing." I whispered something into his ear what happens if he didn't cooperated. "All right, I'll talk, it's where we manufacture the modified version of Dr. Crane's fear toxin," he answered.

"Get some of your men together. If who I think is in there, we're could be in trouble," I said. I, along with Michael, Commissioner Gordon and some members of the Quick Response Team head into Warehouse X. Inside, I turned the power on to find Poison Ivy tied up and in a comatose and I was shocked.

"Poison Ivy, I thought she was back in Arkham," Commissioner Gordon said.

"She was paroled six months ago. Shortly after Dr. Crane vanished off the radar," I said.

"I found Crane's research notes," Michael said. I walked up to him, read the notes and compared them to the the results of the analyses I performed last night.

"These notes matched the analyses I performed last night. It looks like we stopped the production in its track." I said.

Poison Ivy then wakes up from her comatose. "What happened, the last thing I remembered was standing outside the gates of Arkham Asylum," she said.

"Who did this to you?" I asked.

"I can't remember, they drugged me up and used me in their experiments," she said. I picked one of her plants and analysed it.

"It looks like the plants were mutated in order to make the modified fear toxin," I said.

"A very good deduction, Batman," a mysterious voice said. I hear him clapping slowly and I immediately recognised the voice, it was Deadshot. They immediately noticed and aimed their rifles at him.

"What do you want, Deadshot?" I asked.

"Nothing Batman, you see, my latest client has placed cameras all over this place. So they called me into getting of any evidence. Starting with Poison Ivy," he said. He aims a tranquiliser gun at Ivy and shoots a dart into her arm.

"What did you just shoot me with?" she asked.

"Dr. Crane's modified fear toxin. Its effect on human beings is different to that of a super powered criminal like Poison Ivy." She begins to feel the effects of the toxin. "And one more thing, this toxin can affect her immunity to toxins," he said. I notice the fear toxin in her bloodstream is now in effect.

"Everyone, out of the building, now!" I shouted. All of the police officers managed to evacuate the building. I quickly noticed that Deadshot is nowhere to be found. The situation has gotten a lot worse when Ivy summons a giant man-eating Venus flytrap. It tries to attack me; I was able to dodge it and threw a couple of incendiary grenades into his trap. Causing it to burn quickly and rendering Ivy unconscious. Back outside the building, I exited the building while carrying Ivy and placing her onto an ambulance stretcher.

"You're okay?" Commissioner Gordon asked.

"I'll live, have you still got the research notes?" I asked.

"Of course," Michael answered.

He then hands me the research notes. "With these notes, I should be able to make an antidote for the modified fear toxin," I said.

"You better." I and Commissioner Gordon noticed the Bat-Signal has been turned on. "Who turned on the Bat-Signal?" he wondered.

"I got a good idea who it might be," I said. Back on the rooftop, Grant was waiting for me by the Bat-Signal when I arrived.

"You're not exactly an easy person to get hold of," he said.

"I get that a lot. I guess you got some information for me?" I asked.

"It wasn't easy convincing my old colleagues down at MI6 to help me. But I have methods of persuasion. Your victim's name is Neela Singh, a secretary working in a law firm. Her flat mate reported her missing four months ago. She was born in West London and raised in the north end of London," he said.

"Did any the missing persons report mention anything else?" I asked.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," he said. Commissioner Gordon and Michael arrived, Michael immediately recognises him.

"I know you; you're that former MI6 agent, Grant Moore. The one who failed to complete the rescue mission in Libya years ago," Michael said.

"I'm glad someone remembers me," he said.

"You better have a reason why you're here, Grant," Commissioner Gordon said.

"Tell him what you just told me," I said.

"The victim's name is Neela Singh," he said.

"I heard of her, one of my formers colleagues at the Met was investigating her case. The case went dead after no new leads turned up," Michael said.

"That's would explain why the intern at the morgue had trouble identifying her. Is there anything else?" Commissioner Gordon asked.

"Only her flat mate first reported her missing and that's about it," Grant said.

"How does a British-Indian get all the way from North London to Gotham City?" Commissioner Gordon wondered.

"I did ask them about that, but they didn't have an answer. Since I'm done, I'll be seeing you lot around and about," Grant said. He then leaves the rooftop and the station.

"I'll inform my colleague back at the Met know I found the victim," Michael said.

He then heads back into building. "This mystery keeps getting weirder by the minute," Commissioner Gordon said.

"I'm starting to think that her flat mate knows more than she's letting on," I said.

"You think so, there's one problem. You don't have jurisdiction in London," he said.

"Don't worry, I'll use my connections through the JLA if have to," I said.

"Well, I wish you the best of luck in London," he said.

"In my experience, there's no such thing as luck," I said. I then glide down into the Batmobile and drove back to the Batcave. Moments later in the lounge of Wayne Manor, I went over with the travel arrangements with Alfred.

"You looks you have plenty of time to take in the sights before the grand opening of Wayne Enterprises new European headquarters," Alfred said.

"Splendid, all I need to do now is pack my bags. And let Lucius know I'll be attending the opening ceremony myself," I said.

"Will do, sir," he said. He then phones Lucius Fox up, while I pack my bags. Hours later, at an airfield outside of London, my plane landed on the airfield and it stops. I got out of the plane, into a limousine and Alfred drives me to the Ritz. Inside my hotel suite, I contacted Oracle to let her know I'm in London.

"Oracle, I'm in London," I said.

"So I heard and I checked up on your progress so far. It's hard to believe that Crane's new version of his fear toxin was able to counteract Ivy's toxin immunity," she said.

"I know. Listen, can you do a background on one Neela Singh?" I asked.

"So our victim has finally been identified. I see what I can do," she said. She then hangs up and I called it a day. Next day, over at Canary Wharf, I stood at the microphones giving a press conference outside my company's new European headquarters.

"I'm not the one for speeches. When my father first wanted to expand his business operations to Europe years ago. My mother said it was impossible, but he proved her wrong. Years after he first the original European headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. I thought it was time building another headquarters, but this time in London's financial core. I'm here today to officially open another addition to Wayne Enterprises," I said. I officially get the scissors and cut the red ribbon to officially open the new building. Inside, I was greeted by the current head of European operations, Stephanie Doyle.

"I'm glad you could show up for this grand opening," she said.

"What can I say? It can't be a Wayne Enterprises building if it doesn't have me opening it," I said. We both chuckled at the remark and Stephanie shows around the rest of the building. Hours later, I got into my costume and used the grapple gun to swing to the opposite roof. I then contacted the Oracle.

"Oracle, have found anything yet?" I asked.

"I'm trying, but there's a lot of firewalls on the other end," she said.

"I'm heading to the Batcave to see if I can ease some of those firewalls," I said.

"Time out, there's a Batcave in London?" she asked.

"I first discovered an abandoned Underground station years ago when I stopped the Riddler from detonating bombs around the Houses of Parliament. Since then, I modified it to suit my crime fighting needs. Think of it as a home from home," I said.

"And you didn't tell anyone of this because?" she asked.

"It's me, remember. I contact you once I arrive at the cave," I said. I begin to make my way to the Batcave. I arrived outside the abandoned Underground station and entered it. Inside, I walked down a flight of stairs and arrived at the entrance. A security camera scans me, opens the door and I enter the cave. Inside, I walked up to the Batcomputer and sat down at it.

"Welcome," the computer said.

I then contacted the Oracle. "Oracle, I'm in the cave, I'm easing some of those firewalls," I said. I used the Batcomputer to ease some of the firewalls that she mentioned.

"Thanks a lot Bruce. It'll take a couple of seconds, I'm in. According to her background, she worked at a law firm in the North end of London. She graduated with a law degree from Edinburgh and had hopes of becoming a successful lawyer," she said.

"There's more to this, isn't there?" I asked.

"Yes there is. Her childhood wasn't exactly a happy one. Her mother died of breast cancer when she was eight years old and her father was jailed for a dating scam he was involved in years ago. He was sentenced to serve twenty years, but has recently got paroled a year ago," Oracle said.

"Has she recently made contacted with her father?" I asked.

"This is interesting after her father got out of prison. He tried to get her involved in an arranged marriage, which is a tradition in some cultures," she said.

"She wasn't too happy with it," I said.

"Apparently not, once she learned of his plans. She filed a restraining order against him, but however he didn't too kindly to that," she said.

"There's still one question remains. How did she get all the way from here to Gotham? I better head to her last known address," I said.

"How exactly are you going to get there? You don't exactly have a Batmobile there?" she asked.

"I know, but I got something better," I said. I left the Batcomputer, head up to the Batcycle, got on. I turned the ignition on, left the Batcave and head to Neela's last known address. Inside the flat, I enter the lounge and contacted the Oracle.

"Oracle, I'm setting up a crime scene," I said.

"Hopefully we can learn something," she said. I then set up a crime scene and looked around for clues.

"There's doesn't seem to be any indication of any struggle in lounge or the kitchen. I'm checking her bedroom for clues." I then head into the bedroom to search for any clues and I found blood stains on the walls. "Oracle, I found blood stains on the walls. One of the stains was hers, while there's another stain that doesn't match her DNA," I said.

"She must've put up a fight, but unfortunately lost and probably abducted," she said.

"Possibly." I then hear the front door open, her flat mate and her boyfriend enter the bedroom to find me working. "I know what you're thinking and let assure you two. I'm here to help," I said.

"You got no right to break in here," the former flat mate said.

"I have a right to be here, but you must've heard about what happened to her," I said.

"Yes I have, Scotland Yard called me yesterday to let me know that the Gotham City Police Department have found her murdered," she said.

"So you're the Batman," her boyfriend said.

"All I want to know is this. How did she end up in Gotham?" she asked.

"That's why I'm here. Hopefully I might learn something from her room," I said. I then notice her laptop. I turned it on and access her e-mail account.

"What're you doing?" she asked.

"Did she have any problems with her family before she was abducted?" I asked.

"Her father came into the flat one day. She try to begged him to leave, because she didn't want get involved in a arrange marriage," her former flat mate said.

"It looks her story checks out. From what I reading, she threatening to go to the police unless he leaves her alone. The last e-mail received before she abducted was again from her father. I didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice," I read.

"Sounds like her father doesn't take no for an answer," her boyfriend said.

I then three people coming through the front door. "Are you two expecting guests?" I asked.

"No we're not," they answered.

"Hide in your bedroom, now," I ordered. The couple then went to hide in their bedroom. I head back into the kitchen and waited for the intruders to arrive and they did.

"So what we're looking for?" one of them asked.

"Anything that belonged to the victim. Since G.C.P.D found her body, we've been ordered not to take any chances with future abductions and not to leave any forensic evidence behind," the other answered.

"I'll check the bedroom, you two check the rest of the flat," the third ordered. The guy enters the bedroom, while the other two check the rest of the flat out. I grabbed the two and take them out. I went back into the back into the bedroom and silently take the third person out. I bring him back into the lounge, and tied them together.

"You two can come out now," I said. The couple came out of their bedroom and into the lounge.

"We should thank you for helping us," her boyfriend said.

"You don't need to." I wake one of them up and he looks me and is terrified by my appearance. "I want answers, starting with why you lot are here?" I asked.

"How I am suppose to know? We just came here to pick up my car keys," he said.

"Don't you play dumb with me. You lot were here for a reason and I'm not going to ask again," I said.

He then gives up. "All right, it's because of you, my boss ordered to get rid of any evidence connecting the abductions and Dr. Crane's modified fear toxin," he answered.

"Go on?"

"That's all I have to say." I then looked up at him closer. "Okay, there some abductions going on at moment. Mostly Indian women, they're taken taken to a warehouse not far from this flat, put on a truck and I don't know what happens next. It's the honest truth," he said.

"Call the police and let them know what happened here," I said.

"What about you?" her former flat mate asked.

"I'm going to put an end to the abductions," I said. I left the flat, got onto the Batcycle and ride over to the warehouse. Inside, they were bust loading the abductees into a container and manufacturing the fear toxin. I break the glass on the roof, shattering it and I dropped down into the building.

"Its Batman, shoot him down!" one of them shouted. They fired their guns at me. I showed that I mean business by taking them down as the police arrived.

"Hold it right there, you. Put your hands up, now," a detective inspector said.

"I'm not here to pick a fight with you lot," I said. The detective inspector then receives a message from an officer on her radio.

"Ma'am, I received word from the Commissioner for you and your squad to stand down. The Batman is here to help us," he said.

They then stand down and the officers begin to make arrests on the gang members. "I'm sorry about that, I'm D.I Joanna Queen," she said.

"There's no need to apologise," I said.

"So why are you here?" she asked.

"I came to find answers to how Neela Singh got all the way from London to Gotham," I said.

"So the rumours are true. We're hoping to find drugs here, but we didn't," she said.

"You might want to think again," I said. I opened a container to show them Scarecrow's modified fear toxin, packaged and ready to be shipped.

"What the hell is this stuff?" D.I Joanna Queen asked.

"Dr. Jonathan Crane's fear toxin. Just like I deducted, I stopped another production facility in its tracks." I walked to the table to find the same research notes as I did in the other facility. "Its looks like they manufacturing the stuff as well," I said. I then picked up the notes and a laptop.

"I guess we've found more than drugs, but a human trafficking operation as well," she said. Just like that, she notices I vanished. On the way back to the Batcave, I contacted the Oracle.

"Oracle, I just shut down another production plant," I said.

"Good, but that still doesn't explain how she got all the way to Gotham. There's something else you need to know. I just patch into a guard radio feed in Arkham and Ivy is getting worse. She's got a fever at the moment and the doctors saying that she doesn't have that much longer to live," she said.

"Heading back to the cave to make an antidote. I'll contact you once I'm in the cave," I said. Inside the Batcave, I worked hard to make the antidote, but I ran into a problem.

"Oracle, I may have a problem. The good news is I got everything I need to make the antidote," I said.

"So what's the bad news?" she asked.

"The bad news is that one key component is missing and that is a rare plant known as a Crimson Fiend," I said.

"Hold on, I'm checking, you're not going to like this, but a Crimson Fiend is normally used for the production of Venom, the drug that Bane uses. You're sure about this?" she asked.

"It's the only plant extract capable of counteracting this new version of the fear toxin. Does it say where it grows?" I asked.

"According to the information I have, it grows in the deepest jungles of New Guinea. However, there're two botanic gardens which has is it. The Metropolis Botanic Gardens and Kew Gardens," she said.

"Kew is the closest, I'll stay in contact if I need anything," I said.

"Okay, good luck," she said. I go onto the Batcycle, left the Batcave and ride over to Kew Gardens. Over at Kew Gardens, I enter the greenhouse to look for a Crimson Fiend. I then find the caretaker tied up and gagged, along with two security guards. I find Deadshot waiting for me.

"I knew you were going after the rare Crimson Fiend to make an antidote," he said.

"I take it that Crane was the one who hired you?" I asked.

"Bingo, now then. Let's make this entertaining," he said. He fires one round from his pistol, I threw a Batarang to deflect it. He leaps in to attack to me and we fought. I was able to defeated him and grabbed him.

"You got yourself a prison sentence, Deadshot. Crane was the one who hired you, where is he?" I asked.

"I don't know where he is. He contacted me, hired me to prevent you from finding about his plans and that's about it," he said.

"Thanks for cooperating." I then punched him out out cold and freed the caretaker and the two security guards. "You're three okay?" I asked.

"Barely, when this nut job came in, tied us up and nearly destroy the rare Crimson Fiend plant," the caretaker said.

"He's out of the picture. Where do you keep it?" I asked.

"It would normally be housed in the Rare Plants Collection. But recently due to recent developments, we had to lock it up to prevent anyone from stealing it," the caretaker said.

"Let me guess, to prevent thieves from making Venom?" I asked.

"Exactly, why's the plant so important to you?" he said.

"Scarecrow has recently developed a new and modified of his fear toxin. The plant is a key component to making an antidote," I said.

"I can help, think of it as repaying you for saving our lives. The Crimson Fiend is locked up in storage," he said. The Caretaker then shows me to where the Crimson Fiend is kept. I took a sample of the plant and I contacted the Oracle.

"Oracle, I have a sample of the Crimson Fiend and I encountered Deadshot," I said.

"Deadshot? Why is he in London?" she asked.

"Crane hired him to destroy the plant. It is most likely he did the same thing in Gotham, probably to get rid of Ivy as well," I said.

"Did he tell you where is he?" she asked.

"No, I'll be in touch," I said. I then leave Kew Gardens and head back to the Batcave. Inside the Batcave, I was able to make the antidote thanks to the Crimson Fiend sample I collected. The Oracle then contacts me.

"I got some bad news, Ivy went into a cardiac arrest, but she's in a stable condition. Arkham staff don't how long she can keep living," she said.

"I done making the antidote. I'm now done in London, I'm on my way back to Gotham. Also, I'm bringing some souvenirs that might be able to help me track down Crane," I said.

"Good, hopefully you can put an end to his twisted night," she said. I then leave the cave with the antidote and the laptop. I head back to the Ritz, pack my bags, head to the airfield and caught a plane back to Gotham City. Next day, in Arkham Asylum, in the medical bay, Poison Ivy is not doing so well. I arrived in the bay with the antidote in my hand.

"Get this antidote into a bloodstream!" I shouted. I handed the antidote to one of the orderlies. She injects the antidote into her right arm and finally settles down.

"I don't believe it. She's returning to normal," she said. Commissioner Gordon, Michael and Harvey arrived to see me.

"I see you finally made the antidote and just in time," Commissioner Gordon said.

"The last thing I want is ivy to another of one of Crane's victims," I said.

"Did you find him?" Harvey asked.

"No, but I discovered something," I said.

"Go on?" Commissioner Gordon asked.

"I learned that the victim was due to participate in an arranged marriage. She wasn't too happy with it, so she filed a restraining order against her father," I said.

"I wouldn't blame her. While you were away, things got out of hand, fast. Indian protesters protested outside the station, proclaiming the murder was racially motivated," Michael said.

"No surprises there, before I left. Something like this was happening in Blüdhaven. Also, I learned that there was another production plant like the one we shut down days ago. But this one was different, the gang there was involved in human trafficking," I said.

"Now that's interesting, we did learn a few things while you were away. The gang leader who was in charge of the operation here confessed to murdering Neela. We took a swab of his DNA, compared to the semen that was found at the crime and it was a perfect," Michael said.

"We searched his address and we found a combat knife. It match the stab wounds that were on the victim," Harvey said.

"Thanks to those, he's looking at a life sentence," Commissioner Gordon said.

"But we're not done yet. There's still a lot of questions that need answering. Such as how did Neela get here and more importantly. Where is Dr. Crane," I said.

"True, we're still a long way to go. Her body is being flown back to London for her funeral as we speak," he said.

"Hopefully it might bring some closure to her friends. I also found a lead, when I was back in London. I found a laptop, hopefully I can examine the hard drive's contents and learn more about Dr. Crane's whereabouts," I said.

"You better, because we don't how long we can keep the protests under control," Commissioner Gordon said. I then left the asylum and drove back to Batcave. Next morning, I woke up on my bed in the manor with Alfred at my bedside.

"What day is it?" I asked.

"Sunday, sir. Lucius wants to congratulate on the job well done in Canary Wharf," Alfred said.

"It felt like I was still in London," I said.

"It can feel that way sometimes. I heard you finally cured Poison Ivy of her fear," he said.

"True, but its not enough to stop Crane from poisoning the world," I turned the TV on find the station has been hacked. It was like this with every other channel on the air. "Did you pay the cable bill last month?" I asked.

"Yes I did," he answered. The Scarecrow then appears on the screen.

"Greetings Gotham, it's been a long time since I spoken. Recently, my efforts to poison the world in fear have been hampered by the Dark Knight." We then head into the Batcave. I sat down at the Batcomputer and try to trace where the transmission is coming from. "Since my parole eight months ago. I wanted to carry on with my work, but my benefactor was too kind. So he provided me with the resources to start over again. To prevent the Dark Knight from stopping me in my tracks, I took a precaution before I left the country. I planted a bomb filled with my toxin, it will detonated within the next two hours," The Scarecrow threatened.

The transmission ends and I lost the signal. "I'm sorry, sir," Alfred said.

"Don't be, but that bomb is still out there," I said. I get into my costume, hop into the Batmobile and drove to where the Bat-Signal is based. As I was driving to the station. I was contacted by the Oracle.

"I saw the transmission. I tried to trace it, but I had no luck," she said.

"Neither did I. Can you locate the bomb?" I asked.

"It's not going to be easy, but I'll try. Also, dad is already over at City Hall waiting for you," she said. I then drove over to City Hall. Inside, I enter the Mayor's office and I closed the door behind me.

"Okay, the Scarecrow planted a bomb somewhere. Can someone explain what the difference is? Are we dealing with the fear toxin we all know and despise?" the Mayor asked.

"This version has modified, the effects will be ten times more than the previous toxin. Even Poison Ivy toxin immunity was effective again this strain," I said.

"There's still threat of it getting lose in the city. I already ordered the MCU to search throughout the city for the bomb," Commissioner Gordon said.

"It might be a good effort, but not good enough." The Oracle then contacts me. "Would excuse me," I said.

I then left the office and took the call. "I got some good news, I tracked down the bomb. It's over at the Gotham University campus and there's a football game going on at the football field," she said.

I went back into the office. "I know where the bomb is, its over at Gotham University," I said.

"There's a game going on today. They usually have blimps out there every year. In that case, we need to get moving." Commissioner Gordon gets his radio out. "All units converge over to the university campus. The bomb is there," he ordered. I and Commissioner Gordon left the office and head over to the campus.


	3. Chapter 3

Part Three: Into the Twilight

At the Gotham University campus, outside the football field, I and the police arrived outside the field.

"The bomb could be anywhere," Commissioner Gordon said.

"I'm calibrating the cowl's vision to detect either signal waves or unusual energy readings." I said. I then calibrated the cowl's vision and I immediately picked an unusual energy reading coming from the blimp on the left. "There, the bomb is located on the left blimp on the platform," I said.

"You're sure? All right, we'll begin evacuating the building, while Batman tries to defuse the bomb," Commissioner Gordon said. He notices that I already swung over to the blimp's platform. On the platform, I found the bomb and it's wired to the fear toxin, reading to explode within the next two hours.

I then contacted the Oracle. "Oracle, I found the bomb. It's wired to the fear toxin and a timer," I said.

"That's not good, please tell me you're not going to defuse it?" she asked.

"What choice do I have," I said.

"I figure as much. If you miss on this chance, people within the ten miles radius could be breathing in the stuff," she said.

"I won't," I said. I removed the panel on the bomb and get to working on defusing it. I disconnected the fear toxin from the timer. Now it's a question of defusing the bomb before it explodes. I cut the the blue wire and the bomb was defused.

"Have you defused it?" Oracle asked.

"I have, the bomb is similar to the one I defused eighteen months ago. When the Scarecrow made the threat at Dini International Stadium," I said.

"It's good to know that you defused it. I'll be in contact if you need anything," she said. I then glide back down to the ground.

I walked up to Commissioner Gordon. "So you were able to defuse the bomb. It nearly had everyone in a panic," Commissioner Gordon said.

"Hopefully it'll be the last," I said.

"But it still doesn't explain why he made the threat," he said.

"Most of the criminals I dealt with can be unpredictable. They're willing to control the situation and will do anything to get their way," I said.

"So what now?" Michael asked.

"Right now, our main concern should be finding Dr. Crane," I said.

"You're right, maybe Poison Ivy knows where Crane is," Commissioner Gordon said.

"That's unlikely, because when you were back in the warehouse. She said she was ambushed and taken there," I said.

"Point taken, any other ideas?" he asked.

"There's the laptop I have. Once I analysed the hard drive, I'll let you if I learned anything," I said. I left the campus, got into the Batmobile and drove back to the Batcave. Inside the cave, I removed the laptop hard drive and analysed. Judging by the size of the hard drive, it's going to take a while to retrieve the data. I watch a news websites on the Batcomputer and read an article regarding the London arrests. When I looked at a photograph, I notice that one of the gang members has a tattoo of their emblem. I noticed the same thing when I was in London when I interrogated the gang member back in the victim's flat.

"Oracle, I sending an e-mail containing a photograph," I said.

"You want me to run a facial scan on him?" she asked.

"Actually it's his tattoo I'm more interested in. Run the tattoo through the database from any known gangs," I said.

"Okay, done," she said.

Alfred then enters the cave and walks up to me. "How's your search going?" he asked.

"It's going to take some time to retrieve the data from the laptop's hard drive," I said.

"I see, Master Grayson called some time ago. He was worried about the situation here, but I reassured him that everything going to be fine," he said.

"Thanks for doing that, Alfred," I said.

The Oracle then contacts me. "I'm done searching through the database and you're not going to like what I just found out," she said.

"Try me?" I asked.

"The gang calls themselves the Cult of Yama, who is a death deity in Hindu culture. The gang's history goes way back before Queen Victoria's became Empress in India. However, when she became Empress in 1876. The cult went underground and over the years developed a notorious reputation," she said.

"It explains a lot, what else have you learned about the gang?" I asked.

"When British rule came to an end on 1947, the cult quickly began to take advantage of India's newly formed independence and formed ties with the government there as this press footage taken in 1976 regarding the gang's existence," she said. She e-mails me the press footage and I watched it.

"Despite our recent arrests. However, the Cult of Yama as the paper call them does not exist," the spokesman.

I then stopped the footage. "With those ties in place. They perform their illegal operations without raising an alarm," I said.

"Exactly, while I was digging into their background. I done a deeper background into Neela's father, Deepak was involved in the cult big before he got arrested for the dating scam," she said.

"He must've used his connections with cult to abduct his own daughter in order to persuade to go along with the arranged marriage," I said.

"During the time before she was murdered on the streets of Gotham. Deepak couldn't cope with her rebellious attitude and he decides to hire Crane in order to use his fear toxin to brainwash her to go along with it," she said.

"It's not that simple. Deepak doesn't seem to be the type to run the Cult of Yama. Someone else is pulling the strings, Crane, Deadshot and Deepak were only the puppets," I said.

"I see where you coming from. Also, the gang's recent activities range from human trafficking, drug trafficking, gunrunning and political assassinations," she said.

"With those, there's nothing that can stop them, but me." The Batcomputer then finishes retrieving the data from the laptop hard drive. "I finished retrieving the data and what I found found could be the equivalent of Pandora's Box," I said.

"What do you see?" she asked.

"A lot, shipping dates, financial transactions, forged travel documents, everything," I said.

"Hopefully we can learn where Crane is hiding," Oracle said. I then read an attachment from an e-mail that Crane a couple of months ago.

"I got something; I found an attachment from an e-mail. According to this, Crane demanded the gang members to bribe several Gotham officials to keep his newly modified fear toxin a secret." I then found a map containing key locations. "I found a map and a possible location to where Crane is hiding. He's somewhere in India, near Delhi," I said.

"Finally a location," she said.

"I'll let Commissioner Gordon know." I then rang the Commissioner up. "Jim, it's Batman," I said.

"What a relief, it wasn't easy convincing the media that the threat has been neutralised. Got any leads regarding Crane's whereabouts?" he asked.

"That and much more. I retrieved the data from the hard drive, it contains all their operations. Shipping dates, maps, documents and financial transactions," I said.

"With this information, it could seal their fates," he said.

"As for the location, Crane is somewhere in India, near the Delhi area," I said.

"Good, I'll try and see if can persuade the Indian Embassy to let the MCU search for him," he said.

"It's too risky and too dangerous, Crane may've aligned himself with India's deadliest gang, the Cult of Yama," I said.

"A gang member mentioned he is a member of that cult. How dangerous are they?" he asked.

"Very, judging by the deep connections with the government," I said.

"You're going to India to get him back," he said.

"Yup, and I'm going to put an end to the cult once and for all," I said.

"Take care of yourself," he said.

The Commissioner then hangs up. "Sounds like a suicide mission, Bruce. You're sure you want to go through with this? I could put in a call to the JLA to assist you," Oracle said.

"No, I work better alone," I said.

"Suit yourself, I'll be in contact if you need anything," she said.

She then hangs up. "I'll make the travel arrangements and let Ravi know you're coming," Alfred said. Next day, over at Wayne Enterprises Delhi branch, I arrived in the headquarters to be greeted by my old friend and manager Ravi.

"Mr. Wayne, this is unexpected. We didn't know you were coming to visit us," he said.

"That why they call it a surprise visit, Ravi. How's everyone been holding up since I officially opened this building a few years ago?" I asked.

Ravi then gives me a tour around the building. "We're doing well so far. We've making huge environmental breakthroughs in finding alternative energy sources," he said.

"So I read in your official report," I said.

"However, with the recent terrorist activities. It's been difficult to secure a decent workforce, we even triple our security force to protect the company's secrets," he said.

"I admire your determination Ravi. Is there anything I can do to help this branch?" I asked.

"No there isn't, but thanks for asking," he said. We then carried on touring the headquarters. Several hours in my summer residence, I look into the evening sky and the Oracle contacts me.

"How's Delhi?" she asked.

"More than I expected. It's just like I remembered," I said.

"Something tells me you been there before," Oracle said.

"Back when I was seven years old, a year before my parents got murdered," I said.

"I'm sorry to ask," she said.

"Its okay," I said.

"Don't tell me there's a Batcave in Delhi?" she asked.

"No there isn't. Oliver Queen used to own this house, until he auctioned it off some years back," I said.

"So what's the plan?" she asked.

"The map I got indicates several key locations the gang uses," I said. I then get change into my costume.

"You're going to hit the locations until one of the members squeals you Crane's location," she said.

"Exactly, I'll be in contact," I said. I left the house and glide into the busy streets. At one of the locations, I arrived outside a social club. They were socialising when I kicked the down and entered the club. The gang tried to get to the gun cabinet, but I was to defeat them. I then asked where Crane is, but they don't know. I then head to a bar that they hang out; I defeat the members and interrogated one of them. He tells me that Deepak might know where he is and gives me his last known address. At the apartment, I entered the apartment and checked the room.

The Oracle then contacts me. "I take it your search didn't go off to a good start," she said.

"I hoping Neela's father might know where Crane is," I said.

"He better, after everything he's been through," she said.

I enter the kitchen to find Deepak sitting at the breakfast table dead. "Oracle, I found Deepak, but unfortunately he's dead," I said.

"Such much for your best lead. How long has he been dead and more importantly, what killed him?" she asked.

"It looks like he's been dead for three days now." I then found that he slashed his wrists. "He committed suicide, there're deep cuts into his wrists," I said.

"What a way to go. So what now, he's not going to be much help," Oracle said.

I then found another map on the table. "It looks like I found map with a set of coordinates," I said.

"Hang on, I'm patching into your cowl's vision mode. Its only take a minute or so to find out where those coordinates lead," she said.

"Do it," I said.

"Okay, I locked in the coordinates and according to a satellite feed I'm hacking into. It looks like those coordinates lead to an abandoned mine outside Delhi," she said.

"I guess Deepak just helped us to find where Crane is. I'm heading to the mine now," I said.

"Okay, be careful. The more you discover, the more you put yourself at risk," she said. I left the apartment and back into city centre. Luckily, I found one of the cult's trucks, opened a crate, get inside and smuggled myself into the mine. Inside the mine, I left the crate and the truck and begin to explore the mine. I smelled sweat and tear not that far from my current location. I explored deeper to find the main production facility.

"Oracle, if you're still patched into the cowl's vision mode. You're not going to believe what I'm seeing," I said.

She was then shocked to discover what she is seeing. "Oh my god, are those women and children are making Crane's fear toxin?" Oracle asked.

"Apparently they are," I answered.

"What kind of sick being would this to all those innocent people?" she asked.

"Probably the leader of the Cult of Yama and Crane," I said.

"You got to save them, their lives are at stake," she said.

"I know, I'm planting explosives around the mine that should destroy the facility permanently," I said. I begin the plant explosives around various weak spots around the mine. It wasn't too long that they caught on to my efforts and try to catch me. One of the members threw a flash bang grenade at me, I was temporary blinded by the flash and they caught me. Moments later, I woke up to discover I was tied and confront by the leader of the Cult of Yama, his translator and Scarecrow.

The leader then says something in Hindi and the translator translates for him. "Our leader, Kamal welcomes you personally Batman to India," the translator said.

"I'm not impressed by what your cult has been doing to Gotham and London lately," I said.

"You should be impressed, Batman. Think of it as redoing Genesis all over again," Scarecrow said.

Kamal then says something in Hindi, the translator then translate it. "Kamal says you should be honoured to witness our master plan of world domination," the translator said.

"Why are you doing this? For profit, to see the world burn or is there more to this?" I asked.

Kamal then replies in Hindi and the translator translates. "Years ago before you even existed, the British government tried to shut down the cult. But we managed to survive by going underground and restarting. Now it's our turn to purge the world in fear," the translator said.

"That's why you recruited Scarecrow, didn't you?" I asked.

"I'm just the tip of the iceberg, Batman. I first discovered about the mine's existence for a reason. Before I became the Scarecrow, I learned of a rare mineral that only exists in this part of the world. Luckily my benefactor read about my research, got me released and we formed a partnership with one common goal. To poison the world in fear," Scarecrow said.

"What about Poison Ivy. She didn't deserve your fear toxin. Why did you get her involved?" I asked.

Kamal then answers my question in Hindi, the translator translates. "The rare mineral has one disadvantage. Once it leaves this mine, it quickly deteriorates easily. Thanks to Poison Ivy, we keep the mineral alive long enough through her mutated plants to make the fear toxin," the translator said.

"What about Deadshot?" I asked.

"I hired him to keep you away and to prevent you from discovery this mine," Scarecrow said.

"These people don't deserve this. You're putting their lives at risk because for a simple plan to poison the world in fear," I said.

"Much more, once we're done poisoning India in fear, then the world. I got to get back to work," he said.

Scarecrow then leaves me. "Do you really think this partnership of yours will work? I know him better than you. People like him are opportunists and he is likely to double-cross you when the time is right," I said. The translator translates what I just said in Hindi to Kamal. He replies in Hindi and the translator translates the reply.

"Kamal says what kind of person do you take him for? He knows everything will work out in the end," the translator said.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

Kamal then replies the answer in English. "Forgive me for if my English isn't brilliant. I know my men better than he does. I know you're the world's greatest detective and you might try to escape your imprisonment. To prevent you from doing such a thing, I'm injecting you with his fear toxin." He gets a syringe with Scarecrow's fear toxin and injects it into my bloodstream. "The effects should kick in at any moment. Get the canisters loaded onto the dirigible," Kamal ordered. They left me as I begin to feel the effect of toxin kicking in.

The Oracle then contacts me. "Bruce, can you hear me? Its me, Barbara. You've been exposed to fear toxin haven't you? Listen, you got to fight it, you have to," Oracle said. I then begin to experience my worst nightmare. The night my parents died in front of me as a mugger demanded cash. In an act of desperation, he murdered my father first; he then murdered my mother as he grabbed her pearl necklace. I tried to fight his toxin, but its much stronger than the last version. I came prepared; I get the antidote out and inject myself with it.

"Oracle, are you there?" I asked.

"Thank god you took some of the antidote with you," she said. I then try to escape my bindings. Meanwhile, Scarecrow and Kamal were heading to the dirigible as the cult loads the canisters contain the fear toxin.

"I overheard what Batman and he is right about one thing." Scarecrow then grabs Kamal's sword and stabs him with it. "You should've listened to him when you had the chance. Are those canisters loaded yet?" Scarecrow asked.

"Almost, we got one canister left and we should be on our way," one of the members answered. I then arrived to confront Scarecrow and the cult.

"You? How did you survive my fear toxin? It should've killed you by now?" Scarecrow asked.

"I came prepared for an occasion like this, Scarecrow. Give yourself up, Crane and I might make this easy," I said.

"Give myself up? Never! Now if you excuse me, I got a city to poison. Once I'm done in Delhi, I'll then use the the remainder of my toxin to contaminate the Ganges River," he said.

"You wouldn't. The people of India depend on the Ganges. If you contaminate the river, thousands of people will die," I said.

"Exactly, I must go now. Boys, deal with the Dark Knight once and for all," he ordered. Scarecrow then boards the dirigible, alone with some of the members and they take to skies and left. While the rest of the gang leaped in to attack. But I counteract their attacks, redirected some of them and defeated them. I then contacted the Oracle.

"I bet you heard didn't you, Oracle?" I asked.

"Every single word. Is Crane really that diabolic to do something like that?" she asked.

"He would, but right now I got a bigger problem. They're still women and children still inside this mine. I need to free them." I then freed the women and children from their shackles and they were grateful. "Can one of you speak English?" I asked.

An Indian woman then comes forward. "I can," she answered.

"Listen to me carefully. I get the other women, children and gang members out of the mine. I know what they did was wrong. But I won't let anyone die," I said.

"What about you?" she asked.

"I'm going to make sure that this mine will not be used ever again. Go!" I shouted. She, along with the others evacuated the mine. I then carried on what I was doing before I got caught, planting the explosives.

The Oracle then contacts me. "It's not wonder why Green Arrow accuses you of being noble all the time," Oracle said.

"You know me, always willing to do what is right." I then finished planting the explosives. "I just finished planting the explosives. I heading out of the mine, now," I said. Outside the mine, all of them got onto a truck and leave as I left the mine. I got the detonator out and detonated the explosives, causing the mine to be destroyed.

Oracle then contacts me. "I just patched into a flight control radio at the airport there. Crane's dirigible is getting close to Delhi," she said.

"Thanks, Oracle, I already destroyed the mine and I'm heading there right now," I said.

"Just one problem, how are you going to get there? You don't exactly have a Batwing onsite," she said. I then saw a helicopter standing there; I guess the cult isn't that very bright.

"I found a helicopter," I said.

"Good, I would be pressuring you to get there on the double. But you know what you're doing, I'll be in touch if you need anything," she said. She then hangs up as I got into the cockpit. Started the helicopter up, take to the skies and pursued the dirigible. Back in Delhi, the streets are busy with people as the dirigible arrived.

Scarecrow then makes an announcement. "Attention citizens of Delhi. As of tonight, this city will be poisoned in fear!" he said. Onboard the dirigible, one of the gang members is on the lookout as he spots the helicopter I'm in.

"Boss, we got a situation. We got a pursuer," he said.

"It must be a press helicopter," Scarecrow said.

The member gets a pair of binoculars, looks out through them and sees me piloting the helicopter. "Its Batman who's pursuing us," he said.

"Take him down!" he ordered. The member then gets a rocket launcher out, aims at me and fires the rocket at the helicopter. I bailed out of the helicopter before the rocket hits it. As I'm falling, I get the grapple gun out and grappled onto the dirigible. I then board the dirigible and I confronted them.

"This ends now, Crane," I said.

"End?" Scarecrow then laughs at the remark. "Its already begun. Half of you start spraying the toxin, while the rest of you deal with our gatecrasher," he ordered. Half of the gang tries to take me down, but I was able to defeat. I threw a Batarang at them before they begin to spray the toxin. They leaped in to attack me, but I fight back and defeat them.

"Its over, Crane. Why don't you make this easy and surrender," I said.

"Like hell I will!" he shouted. He jumps in and we fought. Crane hasn't changed since our last encounter. Its a stalemate as we draw our fight to an conclusion.

"We're even, it looks like we aren't going win this one," I said.

"You're right," Scarecrow said. He draws out his gun and aims it at one of the canisters. I then threw a Batarang to remove his gun just as he was fire at the canisters. I then sucker punched him, rendering him out cold. Back on the ground, I landed the dirigible as Harvey Bullock and Michael Simms stood there.

"I take it Jim couldn't say no?" I asked.

As I left the dirigible with Crane tied up. "You know him, always willing to do anything to give you a hand. He's currently supervising Deadshot's extradition from London to Gotham," Harvey said.

"The Indian Government has agreed to let us take Crane back to Gotham," Michael said.

I then hand Crane over to them. "Crane came close to poisoning Delhi and polluting the Ganges River with his fear toxin," I said.

"Sounds like you put a stop to that plan," Harvey said.

"Also, before I went after Crane, I informed Interpol about the Cult of Yama's criminal activities and their government ties," I said.

"So we gathered. They're making arrests and rooting out any further corruption," Michael said.

"Then my work here is done. When you two get back to Gotham, tell the Commissioner thanks for the assistance," I said. I get the grapple gun out, scaled to a rooftop and head back to my summer residence. Days later back in Gotham, on top of the police station where the Bat-Signal is based. I arrived to discover Commissioner Gordon is already there.

"Your handy work in Delhi stirred up the government there. As a result, six government officials are charged with corruption, bribery, aiding and abetting," he said.

"I'm just glad that I could finally get justice for Neela," I said.

"Whatever suits you. Deadshot is already in Blackgate, awaiting trial for his crimes. Crane is now back in Arkham where he belongs," he said.

"What about Matthew Bell, the one who got Crane and Ivy out?" I asked.

"His company, Taka Pharmaceuticals went into administration this morning. It didn't take the company long enough to figure he's been taking cash bribes. He's currently awaiting trial for bribery, fraud and embezzlement," he said.

"He got what he deserved," I said.

"I hope you're right." Commissioner Gordon's radio's then beeps and gets it out. "What is it?" he asked.

"The Ventriloquist and Scarface have been spotted taking the Wagner High School prom hostage and robbing the students of their possessions at point blank range," the dispatch caller said.

"Something's never change. One more thing, your new cop Michael Simms," I said.

"What about him?" he asked.

"He's going to work out fine," I answered.

"Thanks for the compliment," he said.

"You don't have to," I said. I then jumped off the station, glide down into the Batmobile and drove to Wagner High School.

The End


End file.
